My state pension will be reduced because I didn't claim child benefit, can I still fix this?

I have made a claim for Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) and am currently waiting for a response to an initial refusal, to which I have appealed.

This looks like a long process – 44 weeks, I have been quoted, of which I have waited 24 weeks.

The refusal is based on the fact that I did not claim child benefit initially for my three children when I returned to the UK, believing it to be means tested.

So, for those initial years back in the UK and not working I had no National Insurance (NI) contributions and did not claim child benefit either.

I would like to ask, if I can prove my eligibility to child benefit at that time by providing my sons' dates of birth, would that then mean I could be eligible for the HRP credits for those few years where I had not claimed child benefit?

This would help me to fill in some of the gaps in my NI record. I bought a couple of other eligible incomplete years a few years ago.

Steve Webb replies: As you have discovered, entitlement to National Insurance credits for time raising children is triggered by receipt of child benefit.

Until now, if you didn’t claim child benefit you couldn’t get the credits.

The Government has however recently announced that it is going to put in place a scheme to help some parents (mostly mothers) who didn’t claim child benefit.

But I’m afraid it’s highly unlikely that the scope of the scheme will be broad enough to include your particular situation.

In general, child benefit has always enjoyed an exceptionally high rate of take-up. This contrasts with benefits where you have to go through a means-test to qualify.

But in 2013 the former Chancellor, George Osborne, introduced something called the ‘High Income Child Benefit Charge’.

In simple terms this meant that if you or your partner was on a relatively high income, you would get a tax bill which could wipe out some or all of the value of your child benefit.

In response to this, some parents decided that there was no point getting child benefit with one hand and paying an equal tax bill with the other, so they stopped claiming.

As a result of this (and other factors) the number of people on child benefit has fallen every single year since 2013.

Unfortunately, by not claiming child benefit, these parents were also missing out on the National Insurance credits that come with it.

If you get Child Benefit for a full financial year for a child who is under 12 (or under 16 before 2010), you get a full year towards your state pension.

And time limits on claiming mean it’s not possible to go back more than three months to put in a claim.

The growing numbers not claiming created the risk that large numbers of parents – mostly mothers – could have big gaps in their National Insurance record.

If the problem persisted, they may reach retirement short of a full state pension, or else have to fork out for voluntary NI contributions to fill the gap.

In response to this, the previous government said it would create a brand new category of NI credits for those who could have claimed child benefit but did not do so.

We still have few details of exactly how this will work, and the scheme has already been delayed once, but it is now expected to go live in April 2027.

The key unknown is who will be eligible for the scheme. If it applied to any person who could have claimed child benefit at any point but did not do so, then you would be within scope.

But I strongly expect that it will be specifically linked to the creation of the High Income Child Benefit Charge, and therefore claims will only be accepted back to around 2013.

I have suggested that you might want to contact your local MP to see if he or she can put pressure on the government to broaden the scope of this new scheme.

But I have to say that the odds of them doing so seem pretty slim.

For others who failed to claim child benefit since 2013, these credits could ultimately prove very valuable. At current state pension rates, just one missing year can leave you short on your annual pension by around £358 per year or over £7,000 over a twenty year retirement.

Once the new scheme is up and running it should be clearer how to apply, and also whether it will be possible to claim back any money wasted on paying voluntary NI contributions for the years in question.

Ask Steve Webb a pension question

Former Pensions Minister Steve Webb is This Is Money's Agony Uncle.

He is ready to answer your questions, whether you are still saving, in the process of stopping work, or juggling your finances in retirement.

Steve left the Department of Work and Pensions after the May 2015 election. He is now a partner at actuary and consulting firm Lane Clark & Peacock.

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